Hybrid car control apparatus

ABSTRACT

A motor control apparatus for a hybrid car capable of reducing a spin of the wheel driven by the motor, wherein the hybrid car comprises an engine driven wheel driven by an engine and a motor driven wheel to be driven by a motor for driving the wheel not driven by the engine. In an engine  11 , a front wheel  12  driven by an engine  11 , a generator  15  connected to this engine and driven thereby, an electric motor  13  for driving the rear wheel  14  connected by the generator without being driven by the engine, and a controller  20  mounted on the car to control the output of this electric motor; the controller  20  controls the field currents of the electric motor and generator in such a way that the driving torque of the motor driven engine to be driven by the electric motor is smaller than the driving torque of the engine driven wheel to be driven by the engine, thereby ensuring the traction and the car stability.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a hybrid car control apparatus wherein either a front wheel or a rear wheel of an engine is driven and the other wheel is driven by a motor.

[0003] The present invention relates to a simplified hybrid car control apparatus wherein a car drive motor is directly driven using the electric power produced by a generator driven by an engine, without using the element that absorbs the electric power of a battery or a capacitor.

[0004] 2. Prior Art

[0005] In a conventional hybrid car, when the engine driven wheel driven by an engine has slipped, the slip of the engine driven wheel is reduced by increasing the amount of the electric power produced by a generator connected to the engine, according to the prior art method, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Application Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-63392 (see, paragraphs 21 and 22, and FIG. 4)

[0006] The above stated prior art, however, fails to give a serious consideration to a simplified hybrid car system wherein a car drive motor is directly driven using the electric power produced by the generator driven by an engine, without using the element that absorbs the electric power of a battery or a capacitor.

[0007] This configuration also increases the motor drive current if the amount of the electric power produced by a generator is increased to reduce the slip of an engine driven wheel, with the result that the motor torque is increased and a wheel spin may occur to the motor driven wheel.

[0008] In the present invention, according to the result of the various experimentations carried out by the inventors of the present invention, what is meant by the wheel spin in this connection is defined as a phenomenon in which the slip rate to be defined later (Equation. 2) is reduced below −0.25 when the peripheral speed of the wheel is greater than car speed.

[0009] When the wheel spin has occurred, there is a reduction in traction, i.e. torque transferred to the road surface by the wheel, with the result that acceleration performance deteriorates. If the wheel spin of the engine driven wheel has disappeared with the motor driven wheel subjected to the wheel spin, there may be lack of the stability, for example, due to the spinning of the car.

[0010] This phenomenon tends to occur especially in the car carrying a simplified hybrid car system where the engine drives the front wheel and the rear wheel is driven by an electric motor.

[0011] Further, when both the front wheel and the rear wheel are subjected to the wheel spin, it becomes difficult to detect the car body speed, and an adverse effect will be given to other car operation control systems such as ABS. To detect the car speed in this case, a new sensor such as an acceleration sensor must be added, and this leads to a complicated system configuration and the increased costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] An object of the present invention is to provide a hybrid car control apparatus that reduces the spin of the wheel driven by a motor and ensures the traction and the stability.

[0013] The above stated problems in the conventional hybrid car can be solved by a control apparatus of a hybrid car according to the present invention comprising an engine; an engine driven wheel driven by the above stated engine; an electric motor for driving the wheel not driven by the engine; a motor driven wheel to be driven by the electric motor; and a generator connected to the engine to directly drive the above stated electric motor.

[0014] Wherein an upper limit is set on the amount of electric power produced by the generator in conformity to the operating status of the car; and the upper limit is limited to reduce a wheel spin of the motor driven wheel.

[0015] Preferably, the above stated problems can be solved by using a control apparatus of a hybrid car that provides control in such a way that the torque transferred to the road surface by the engine driven wheel of the car is detected and a restriction is imposed on the amount of electric power produced by the generator in conformity to that torque.

[0016] To use a simpler configuration, the above stated problems can be solved by using a control apparatus of a hybrid car that provide control in such a way that the driving torque of the motor driven wheel is smaller than that of said engine driven wheel.

[0017] Further, to ensure both the transaction and the stability, these problems can be solved by using a controller of a hybrid car that provides control in such a way that the amount of the electric power produced by a generator is reduced if a wheel spin has occurred to the motor driven wheel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a drawing representing a hybrid car to which the present invention is applied;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a drawing representing the relationship between slip rate and friction coefficient;

[0020]FIG. 3 is a drawing representing a motor train controller;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a drawing representing the control flow of the motor train controller;

[0022]FIG. 5 is a drawing representing the car traveling status when the present invention is applied;

[0023]FIG. 6 is a drawing representing the control flow of a simplified motor train controller; and

[0024]FIG. 7 is a drawing representing the control flow of the motor train controller for further reduction of a wheel spin.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025]FIG. 1 shows a hybrid car with the present invention mounted thereon as an embodiment of the present invention. In the hybrid car given in FIG. 1, an engine 11 drives a front wheel 12 through a speed change gear 17 with a torque converter, and a motor 13 drives a rear wheel 14 through a speed change gear with a clutch 18. The motor 13 receives electric power directly through a power supply cable 21 from a special-purpose motor drive generator 15 mechanically connected with an output shaft of an engine 11.

[0026] In other words, the generator 15 directly drives the motor 13. This hybrid car also carries another generator (not illustrated) for electric loads such as an engine ignition apparatus, an electric light and an air blow motor of an air conditioner wherein this generator does not drive the motor. Each wheel of the hybrid car is provided with a wheel speed sensor 16 for detecting the wheel speed.

[0027] The output of the engine 11 and the gear ratio of the speed change gear 17 are controlled by an engine train controller 19. The output of the motor 13, the amount of electric power produced by the generator 15 and on-off operation of the speed change gear with a clutch 18 are controlled by a motor train controller 20. The motor train controller 20 controls both the motor field current and generator field current. It also controls the amount of electric power produced by the generator and the output of the motor.

[0028] A wheel spin occurs to the engine driven wheel when the applied torque is greater than that transferred by the engine driven wheel to the road surface, because of the following reasons. The torque transferred by the engine driven wheel to the road surface depends on the products among the friction coefficient μ between the wheels (in this case a total four wheels) and road surface, load W_(z) given by the wheel in the direction perpendicular to the road surface, and the tire effective radius R (wheel) during movement.

[0029] Here friction coefficient μ depends on slip rate λ. The slip rate λ is defined as follows:

λ=(V−{dot over (θ)}R)/V  Equation 1

[0030] wherein V is a velocity of the hybrid car, {dot over (θ)} is angular velocity of the wheel, R is the tire effective radius.

[0031] where the numerator is positive.

λ=(V−{dot over (θ)}R)/(R)  Equation 2

[0032] where the numerator is negative.

[0033] In both Equation 1 and Equation 2, the slip rate λ (absolute value when λ is negative) and the friction coefficient μ are related with each other as shown in FIG. 2.

[0034] When the slip rate λ is in the range from 0 to 0.05 through 0.2 0, friction coefficient μ exhibits a monotonous increase. When it is above this range, the friction coefficient μ is constant or reduced. The friction coefficient μ, thrust F (car thrust) given to the car by the drive wheel and torque T (car thrust) of the car at this time can be express ed by the following relationship where the load of the wheel applied perpendicularly to the road surface is assumed as W_(z):

F=μW_(z)  Equation 3

T=μW_(z)R  Equation 4

[0035] The following equation represents the wheel movement with consideration given to torque balance when the driving torque T (wheel drive) is applied to the wheel, where the above stated (Equation 4) is included:

T1=J{umlaut over (θ)}+T2+T3  Equation 5

[0036] The left side represents the driving torque T 1 (wheel drive) for driving the wheel. The first term on the right side represents the product between the inertia moment J (drive system) for rotation of the drive system as viewed from the wheel, and the angular acceleration {umlaut over (θ)} of the drive wheel obtained by differentiating the information on wheel speed with respect to time. It shows the torque used for acceleration of the wheel.

[0037] The second term represents the car torque T 2 (car thrust) transferred to the road surface, as given in Equation. 4, and contributes to accelerating the car body. The third term T3 represents the torque loss (transfer loss) caused by friction or the like during the rotation of the wheel.

[0038] As described above with reference to FIG. 2, car torque T (car thrust as the second term of the right side) depends on friction coefficient μ, and has an upper limit. Accordingly, if the wheel driving torque T (wheel drive) is increased, the angular acceleration of the wheel as the first term on the right side is also increased. Thus, the wheel speed becomes greater than the car body speed, resulting in a wheel spin.

[0039] To avoid wheel spin, it is necessary to ensure that the car torque T (wheel thrust) transferred to the road surface does not reach the upper limit. The friction coefficient λ between the road surface and wheel always depends on both the status of the road surface and the status of motion, and this requires the upper limit to be variable. Thus in the present embodiment, the following method is used to prevent the motor driven wheel from slipping:

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3, the motor train controller 20 for controlling the driving torque to the motor driven wheel contains a control operation part 31 for signal input/output and operation, a generator diver 32 for controlling the current of the generator field coil, a clutch driver 33 for driving clutch operating solenoid, and a motor driver 34 for controlling the motor field coil current.

[0041] As described above, the motor train controller 20 contains the control operation part and the drive circuit for the equipment controlling the motor drive force, so it is characterized by excellent car mount ability.

[0042] The control operation part 31 obtains from the engine train controller 19 the information on the speed and torque of the engine 11, the speed change ratio of the speed change gear 17, and the speed of each wheel detected by the wheel speed sensor 16.

[0043] It further gets information on the field current of the generator 15 detected by the current sensor incorporated in the generator driver 13, the field current of the motor 13 detected by the current sensor incorporated in the motor driver 34, and the motor drive current flowing to the power supply cable 16 for driving the motor 13 as detected by another sensor.

[0044] Based on such information, the control operation unit 31 sends the field current command value to the generator driver 32, the clutch solenoid on/off command value to the clutch driver 33, and the field current command value of the motor 13 to the motor driver 34.

[0045]FIG. 4 shows the control blocks contained in the control operation unit 31. Upon preparation for starting the car, the system proceeds to the block 41, and a command is given to the clutch driver 33 to engage the clutch. This corrects the delay in clutch engagement and allows motor torque to be applied to the motor driven wheel immediately. Upon engagement of the clutch, the system proceeds to the block 42.

[0046] Block 42 is a step of calculating the torque applied to the engine driven wheel. In a car according to the embodiment where there is no sensor for detecting the driving torque of the engine driven wheel, there is the following method as means for estimating the torque applied to the engine driven wheel: The rotary speed of the torque converter output shaft is obtained from the information on engine driven wheel speed and the current gear ratio of the speed change gear.

[0047] The drive force transfer characteristics map of the torque converter stored in advance is retrieved from this information and information on the engine speed equivalent to the rotary speed of the torque converter input shaft, thereby getting the torque issued from the torque converter.

[0048] Then the torque obtained in this manner is multiplied by the gear ratio of the speed change gear and the differential gear ratio stored in the memory, thereby getting the driving torque T 1₁ (wheel drive, 1) applied to the engine driven wheel.

[0049] Block 43 is a step of calculating the torque transferred to the road surface. The following equation is used for this calculation:

T1₁ =T2₁ −J ₁{umlaut over (θ)}₁ −T3₁  Equation 6

[0050] The suffix “1” denotes the engine driven wheel.

[0051] The left side represents the torque transferred to the road surface by the left wheel. The first term on the right side denotes the torque applied to the engine driven wheel obtained in the preceding block, and the second term represents the torque used for acceleration of the wheel, which is equivalent to the product between the equivalent moment of inertia from the wheel to the torque converter output shaft with reference to the wheel stored in advance, and the wheel angular acceleration obtained by differentiating the wheel speed sensor of the engine driven wheel. The third term shows the drive transfer loss, which is set in advance.

[0052] Block 44 is a step of calculating the friction coeffici ent μ₁ between the road surface and engine driven wheel. Here the following equation using the obtained T1₁ (car thrust, 1) is employed. It goes without saying that another means for estimating and detecting friction coefficient μ₁ can be used, if any.

μ₁ =W _(z1) R/T1₁  Equation 7

[0053] The load W_(z1) applied by the wheel perpendicularly to the road surface changes according to the acceleration of the car and the weight of the load on the car. It is most preferred if this can be detected or estimated, but there is no practical problem when load W_(z1) is constant, since there is no such a big change as T 1₁ (car thrust, 1).

[0054] Block 45 is a step of calculating the upper limit of the driving torque of the motor driven wheel that can be applied without causing a wheel spin to the motor driven wheel (the slip ratio is less than 0.25), where the friction coefficient μ₁ obtained in Equation 7 is used to predict the value.

[0055] The following equation of motion is obtained when consideration is given to the motion of the motor driven wheel:

T1₂ =J ₂{umlaut over (θ)}₂ +T2₂ +T3₂  Equation 8

Provided that:

T1₂ =Cμ ₁ W _(z2) R  Equation 9

[0056] where suffix “2” denotes the moor drive wheel.

[0057] The left side in Equation 8 represents the driving torque of the motor driven wheel. The first term on the right side denotes the product between the equivalent inertia moment of the moor drive system with reference to the motor drive shaft and angular acceleration obtaining on the basis of the information of the wheel speed sensor on the moto r drive shaft. The second term is determined by Equation 9, and represents the torque transferred to the road surface by the friction coefficient μ₁.

[0058] C shows the constant obtaining from the car test, and is used to set the margin for avoiding the slip caused by the wheel driving torque. Normally, this constant is “1”. Slip is less likely to occur by reduction of this value. W_(z2) represents the load of the motor driven wheel. R (the tire effective radius) shows the radius of action of the wheel, and T3₂ (transfer loss, 2) as a third term denotes the torque transfer loss in the motor drive system.

[0059] Equation 8 represents the relationship between the driving torque applied to the motor driven wheel and the factor for the driving torque to be consumed, similarly to Equation 5. The first term on the right side can be set according to the information on the wheel speed sensor, the second term according to the Equation 7 and Equation 9, and the third term by empirical means. This makes it possible to get t he T1₂ (wheel drive, 2) on the left side of the Equation 8.

[0060] To study the point from a different viewpoint, the torque T 1₂ (car body thrust, 2) that can be transferred to the road surface as the second term is determined; therefore, wheel driving torque T 1₂ (wheel drive, 2) that does not cause a wheel spin is also determined. This provides the effect of minimizing the wheel spin by the control that ensures that the wheel driving torque driven by the motor does not exceed the T 1₂ (wheel drive, 2) obtained from Equation 8.

[0061] Block 47 is a step of determining the upper limit value T (motor upper limit) of the motor torque so that it does not exceed the upper limit value (T wheel drive, 2) of the driving torque of the motor driven wheel obtained in block 45.

T _(ul) <T1₂ /GR  Equation 10

[0062] where T_(ul) denotes the upper limit of the motor, and GR (motor deceleration) denotes the reduction ratio of the speed change gear with clutch 18.

[0063] The motor driving torque is directly coupled with the motor 13 and the generator 15 that supplies power to the motor 13, and is therefore determined by both the motor drive current produced by the generator and the motor field current. To put it more specifically, the torque constant of the motor is obtained by referring to the pre viously stored motor field current, the map of the motor torque constant and the current field current.

[0064] The upper limit value T_(ul) (motor upper limit) of the motor torque is divided by the torque constant to find out the motor drive current, and the result is used as the upper limit value. A generator driver 32 controls the generator field current in such a way that the motor drive current does not exceed the upper limit value.

[0065] In block 48, in response to the decision on whether or not motor drive of the motor driven wheel is required, control is provided in such a way that the system returns to the block 41 if motor drive is required. If motor is not required, the system proceeds to the block 49.

[0066] In block 49, in order to stop the motor torque to the motor drive shaft, motor torque is gradually reduced. When the motor torque has reduced below the preset threshold value, a command is sent to the clutch driver 33 to disengage the clutch. Upon receipt of the command, the clutch driver stops the current of the clutch drive solenoid and disengages the speed change gear with clutch 18.

[0067] As described above, the wheel drive wheel spin can be minimized by controlling the motor torque not to exceed the upper limit value of motor torque obtained in Block 45. Especially in the hybrid car wh ere a generator is directly coupled to a motor and the power produced by the generator cannot be absorbed, the power produced by the generator is directly supplied to the motor.

[0068] Accordingly, the field current values of the generator and motor are controlled in such a way that the motor torque is set not to exceed the upper limit value obtained in Block 45. Alternatively, the generator field current determined in block 45 is used as the upper limit value and a control apparatus is used to provide control in such a way that the field current does not exceed this value. This method is effective in avoiding a motor driven wheel spin.

[0069] Although transient performance is inferior, a motor drive wheel spin can be reduced by the following simplified control method, when the above stated control lies far outside the operation capacity of the control operation part 31; when there is a big error in the information on the wheel speed provided by the wheel speed sensor so that the wheel angular acceleration cannot be determined; when the front wheel is located close to the rear wheel; the moment of inertia in the engine drive system is close to that in the motor drive system; or when the transfer loss of the torque transferred to the wheel from the engine or motor can be ignored.

[0070] When consideration is given to the above stated conditions, the equation of motion in Equation 5 can be simplified as follows:

T1′≅T2′  Equation 11

[0071] where T1′ denotes the wheel drive torque value and T2′ denotes the car trust value. Then the friction coefficient μ₁ of the engine driven wheel can be expressed as follows:

μ′₁ ≅W _(z1) R ₁ /T2′₁  Equation 12

[0072] Thus, the upper limit torque transferred to the road surface by the motor driven wheel can be bonding from the following equation.

T1′₂≅μ′₁W_(z2)R  Equation 13

[0073] When the load W_(z1) of the front wheel on the road surface is close to the load W_(z2) of the rear wheel on the road surface, the following equation can be obtained:

T1′₂≅μ′₁W_(z2)R≅μ′₁W_(z1)R≅T′1₁  Equation 14

[0074] To get the upper driving torque of the motor driven wheel using Equation 14 and Equation 11, the following equation can be gained:

T1′₂≅T1′  Equation 15

[0075] Thus, the wheel spin can be minimized by ensuring that the driving torque of the motor driven wheel does not exceed the driving torque of the engine driven wheel. In this case, computation is simplified because there is no need of calculating the speed or the like from the sensor. To put it more specifically, the upper limit of the motor torque should be set in such a way that the following equation holds:

T′ _(ul) <T1′₁ /GR  Equation 16

[0076]FIG. 6 shows the control flow to achieve the above-mentioned equation. Unlike the flow described with reference to FIG. 4, af ter calculation of the torque driving the engine drive wheel in Block 42, the motor torque upper limit value is determined in Block 62 61, with the torque driving the engine driven wheel used as the upper limit value of the motor driven wheel driving torque.

[0077] Then torque constant is calculated from the motor field current to determine the motor drive current as the upper limit. The motor train controller controls the generator field current in such a way that the motor drive current does not exceed the obtained upper limit.

[0078] As described above, when the generator current, i.e. the amount of generated power is restricted, wheel spin can be reduced. To ensure more reliable reduction of wheel spin, it is also effective to reduce the amount of power produced by the generator when a motor drive wheel spin has been.

[0079]FIG. 7 shows the control flow. It exhibits execution of the flow already described with reference to FIG. 4 or FIG. 6. At the same time, a block for detecting a wheel spin is provided as shown in Block 71.

[0080] When a wheel spin has occurred, the upper limit value of the motor driven wheel driving torque calculated in Block 45 is set close to zero or to the level lower than the driving torque in Block 72, so that the amount of power produced by the generator is reduced. This procedure further reduces the wheel spin of the motor driven wheel.

[0081]FIG. 5 shows the effect obtained from driving the wheel using the control apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 5, the driving torque of the engine driven wheel and motor driven wheel, torque transferred to the road surface, speeds of the motor driven wheel and engine driven wheel, car body speed, slip rate of each wheel, and the current made to flow by power produced from a generator are plotted on the vertical axis, while time is plotted on the horizontal axis.

[0082] Two engine driven wheels and two motor driven wheels are provided, and they are each represented in terms of average values. In each wheel, the torque transferred to the road surface cannot be measured directly, so the torque transferred to the road surface is gained by subtracting the product between the moment of inertia and angular acceleration from the driving torque of each wheel. Test is conducted by fully opening the throttle valve when the car is at a standstill at time 0.

[0083] As a result, the slip rate of the engine drive wheel does not exceed 0.25, and the wheel spin occurs immediately. This can also be read from the relationship between the engine driven wheel driving torque and the torque transferred to the road surface. The torque transferred to the road surface is saturated at about half the driving torque. Accordingly, the remaining driving torque is used to accelerate the wheel, with the result that there is a car body speed increase and more abrupt speed increase.

[0084] Since a restriction is imposed on the current produced from the generator, motor driven wheel driving torque is smaller than engine driven wheel driving torque, and the torque transferred to the road surface by the motor driven wheel than that by the engine driven wheel; therefore, a motor driven wheel spin does not occur.

[0085] This can be verified from the fact that there is agreement between the motor driven wheel slip rate plot and car speed plot, and that there is approximate agreement between the torque transferred to the road surface by the motor driven wheel.

[0086] Restrictions are imposed on the generator output or motor output so that the driving force transmitted to the road surface from the wheel driven by the motor is smaller than the driving force transmitted to the road surface by the wheel driven by the engine, whereby the motor driven wheel is prevented from spinning, traction is ensured and car stability is improved. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A control apparatus of a hybrid car comprising: an engine; an engine driven wheel driven by said engine; an electric motor for driving the wheel; a motor driven wheel to be driven by said electric motor; and a generator connected to said engine to directly drive said electric motor; the control apparatus of the hybrid car characterized in that an upper limit is set on the amount of electric power produced by said generator in conformity to the operating status of said hybrid car; and said upper limit is limited to reduce a wheel spin of said motor driven wheel.
 2. A control apparatus of a hybrid car comprising: an engine; an engine driven wheel driven by said engine; an electric motor for driving the wheel; a motor driven wheel to be driven by said electric motor; and a generator connected to said engine to directly drive said electric motor; the control apparatus of the hybrid car characterized in that an upper limit is set on the amount of electric power produced by said generator in conformity to the torque transferred to t he road surface from said engine driven wheel; and said upper limit is limited to reduce a wheel spin of said motor driven wheel.
 3. A control apparatus of a hybrid car comprising: an engine; an engine driven wheel driven by said engine; an electric motor for driving the wheel; a motor driven wheel to be driven by said electric motor; and a generator connected to said engine to directly drive said electric motor; said control apparatus of the hybrid car characterized in that the amount of electric power produced by said generator is controlled in such a way that the driving torque of the motor driven wheel is smaller than that of said engine driven wheel; and said amount of electric power is limited to reduce a wheel spin of said motor driven wheel.
 4. A control apparatus of a hybrid car comprising: an engine; an engine driven wheel driven by said engine; an electric motor for driving the wheel; a motor driven wheel to be driven by said electric motor; and a generator connected to said engine to directly drive said electric motor; said control apparatus characterized in that the amount of electric power produced by said motor driven wheel is reduced whenever a wheel spin has occurred to said engine driven wheel. 